Many available home or gym exercise devices/programs focus on improving one's health by way of building muscle and/or burning fat. Improvement in the shape and composition of one's body leads to better overall health. Beyond building muscle and burning fat, the maintenance of good posture is an essential aspect of overall health overlooked by mainstream fitness. The posture exercise device satisfies a need for an affordable, easy-to-use, at-home treatment for poor posture or maintenance of good posture.
Posture is essentially the position of the body in space. Optimal posture is the state of muscular and skeletal balance that protects the supporting structures of the body against injury or progressive deformity, whether at work or rest. Correct posture involves the positioning of the joints to provide minimum stress on the joints of the body. Posture also involves the chain-link concept of body mechanics in which problems anywhere along the body chain can lead to problems above or below that point. For example, knee pain can arise from pelvic joint disorders. Proper posture:                Keeps bones and joints in the correct alignment so that muscles are being used properly.        Helps decrease the abnormal wearing of joint surfaces that could result in arthritis.        Decreases the stress on the ligaments holding the joints of the spine together.        Prevents the spine from becoming fixed in abnormal positions.        Prevents fatigue because muscles are being used more efficiently, allowing the body to use less energy.        Prevents strain or overuse problems.        Prevents backache and muscular pain.        Contributes to good appearance.        
The causes of the abnormal postural alignments shown are of two categories: positional and structural. Structural causes are basically permanent anatomical deformities not amenable to correction by conservative treatments. Positional causes of poor posture include                Poor postural habit—occurs when an individual does not maintain a correct posture, due to various reasons: pregnancy, high-heeled shoes, poor work environment, poor sitting and standing habits        Psychological factors, especially self-esteem        Normal developmental and degenerative processes        Pain leading to muscle guarding and avoidance postures        Muscle imbalance, spasm, or contracture        Respiratory conditions        General weakness        Excess weight        Loss of proprioception—the ability to perceive the position of the body        
The symptoms of kyphosis-lordosis thus arise for many reasons. The most common of which are poor postural habits, lack of body awareness, inherent anatomical imbalances, overweight and ineffective or non-existent exercise. A typical scenario involves a person who spends much of their waking hours in a seated (slouched) position either at work, home or office. While seated or standing, tasks are performed in front of the face (through no fault of their own). Front working muscles may become stronger and tighter if not stretched, while non-working muscles will lengthen. Body awareness is lost through habitual front activities as the person “forgets” proper alignment. If counter-balance measures are not taken, form will follow function as posture alignment migrates forward. When these habits are combined with the inevitable effect of gravity, which serves to “weigh down” the spine over time (because most body weight is located in front of the spine) the alignment is pulled forward and pushed down. Eventually outward appearance suffers and health problems may ensue.
Kyphosis-lordosis is an increase in the normal inward curve of the low back, accompanied by a protruding abdomen and buttocks, increased flexion (outward curve) of the thoracic spine, rounded shoulders and a forward-tilted head. Many faulty postural conditions (70–80%) are of this nature.
The conditions of kyphosis-lordosis are not inevitable since muscles work in opposites (agonist/antagonist). If one muscle is contracted the opposite muscle must relax to allow the movement to occur. For example, if the biceps contracts around the elbow to perform an arm curl, the tricep must relax. Likewise, if one muscle is tight, the opposite muscle will become loose. The biomechanic conditions responsible for a kyphosis-lordosis condition are:                neck in a constant flexed (forward) position causes musculature adjoining in front (neck flexors) to tighten and pull the shoulders forward. They will maintain that position until stretched, allowing a return to normal alignment        neck in a constant flexed (forward) position causes musculature adjoining in back (cervical extensors & trapezius) to lengthen, allowing the neck and head to lean forward. They will maintain that position until strengthened, forcing a return to normal alignment.        shoulders in a constant flexed (forward) position causes musculature adjoining in front (deltoid and pectoral muscles) to tighten and pull the shoulders forward. They will maintain that position until stretched, allowing a return to normal alignment.        shoulders in a constant flexed (forward) position causes musculature adjoining in back (mid-trapezius, rhomboids, deltoids,) to lengthen, allowing the shoulders to rotate forward in rested position. They will maintain that position until strengthened, forcing a return to normal alignment.        trunk muscles in a constant flexed position cause muscular adjoining in front (abdominals/obliques) to tighten and pull the trunk forward. They will maintain that position until stretched, allowing a return to normal alignment        trunk muscles in a constant flexed (forward) position cause muscular adjoining in back (spinal erectors) to lengthen, allowing the trunk to lean forward. They will maintain that position until strengthened, forcing a return to normal alignment        a hip in a constant flexed (forward) position causes musculature adjoining in front (hip flexors) to tighten and pull the hips forward. They will maintain that position until stretched, allowing a return to normal alignment.        a hip in a constant flexed (forward) position causes musculature adjoining in back (hip extensors) to lengthen, allowing the hips to tilt forward. They will maintain that position until strengthened, allowing a return to normal alignment.        
Six corrective therapies are conventionally employed in combination for the conventional treatment of kyphosis-lordosis postural faults: heat; massage (with possible chiropractic manipulation); stretching; strengthening exercises; supportive measures (braces) to treat ligaments, bones, and nerves; and education.
An object of this invention is to provide a posture correction exercise device effective in treatment of kyphosis-lordosis postural faults by aiding the restoration of proper spinal alignment through three separate biomechanical exercises consisting of extension of the lumbar region of the body against resistance, contraction of the mid-trapezious, rhomboid, posterior deltoid muscles against resistance, and stretching of the neck flexor muscles, the trunk abdominal muscles, trunk abdominal oblique muscles and hip flexor muscles by exercise of the user's body occasioned by use of the posture correction exercise device.
It is an object of this invention to provide a posture correction exercise device specifically directed to correction of kyphosis-lordosis postural faults by exercising, strengthening and stretching the muscles of the body significant in correcting the conditions of kyphosis and lordosis.
It is an object of this invention to provide a posture correction device to exercise and strengthen the spinal erectors to pull the spine and human torso backward into normal alignment to aid in correction of a condition of lordosis.
It is an object of this invention to provide a posture correction device to exercise, lengthen, strengthen the mid-trapezious, rhomboid and posterior deltoid muscles to pull the shoulder blades of the user together against resistance to force the shoulders into normal alignment to aid in correction of a condition of kyphosis.
It is an object of this invention to provide a posture correction device to exercise, shorten and strengthen the spinal erectors to pull the spine and torso backward into normal spinal alignment, to lengthen and exercise the mid-trapezious, rhomboid and posterior deltoid muscles to pull the shoulder blades together of the user to force the shoulders into normal alignment and the head in a forward position to complete spinal realignment with suitable stretching exercises accomplished through separate stretching strategies to aid in correction of the condition of kyphosis-lordosis.